_J. Gould and H. C. Richter del et lith._ _C. Hullmandel Imp._
]
MEROPS ORNATUS, _Lath_.
Australian Bee-eater.
_Merops ornatus_, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp. p. xxxv.
_Mountain Bee-eater_, Lewin, Birds of New Holl., pl. 18.
_Variegated Bee-eater_, Lath. Gen. Syn., Supp., vol. ii. p. 155, pl.
128.—Ib. Gen. Hist., vol. iv. p. 130, pl. lxix.—Shaw, Gen.
Zool., vol. viii. p. 158.
_Merops melanurus_, Vig. and Horsf. in Linn. Trans., vol. xv. p.
208.—Less. Traité d’Orn., p. 238.
_Dee-weed-gang_, Aborigines of New South Wales.
_Bëe-roo-bëe-roo-long_, Aborigines of the lowland, and
_Ber̈-rin-ber̈-rin_, Aborigines of the mountain districts of Western
Australia.
_Bee-eater_ of the Colonists.
There can, I think, be little doubt of the present being the only
species of Bee-eater inhabiting Australia, since no other came under my
notice during my expedition; nor have I seen examples differing from
those here figured in any of the numerous collections I have had
opportunities of examining, consequently the specific term of _ornatus_
long since applied to it by Dr. Latham must be the one adopted, that of
_melanurus_ given by Messrs. Vigors and Horsfield sinking into a
synonym.
This bird has so many attractions that it will doubtless be always
regarded as a general favourite with the Australians; the extreme beauty
of its plumage, the elegance of its form and the graceful manner of its
flight all combining to render it especially worthy of their notice;
besides which, many pleasing associations are connected with it, for,
like the Swallow and the Cuckoo of Europe, its arrival is a certain
harbinger of the return of spring, which in the southern hemisphere is,
as is well known, at the opposite period of the year to that of the
northern; hence the Australian Bee-eater, which is strictly migratory,
arrives in New South Wales and all parts of the same latitude in August,
and departs northwards in March, the intervening period being employed
in the duties of incubation and of rearing its progeny. During the
summer months it is universally spread over the whole southern portion
of the continent from east to west; and it will be interesting to
ornithologists generally, as it was to myself, to know that at Port
Essington on the northern coast it is also strictly migratory, being
abundantly dispersed over that part of the country when it is absent
from the southern. “On my arrival at Port Essington in July,” says Mr.
Gilbert, “this bird was extremely abundant in every variety of
situation. It is a migratory bird in this part of Australia; a few pairs
perhaps remaining to breed, as is evident from the natives being well
acquainted with their mode of incubating, and also from my having in one
instance seen a pair of old birds with their young, which could not long
have left the nest as they were still being fed by their parents. With
the exception of these I did not observe this species in any part of the
Peninsula or the adjacent islands, from the latter part of August to the
time of my leaving in the following March.”
I have never seen this bird either in collections from New Guinea or
from any other of the Indian islands; hence we may naturally conclude
that the extreme northern parts of Australia form the boundary of its
range in that direction, as New South Wales and the same degree of
latitude do on the southern. In South Australia and at Swan River it is
equally numerous as in New South Wales, generally giving preference to
the inland districts rather than to those near the coast; hence it is
rarely to be met with in the neighbourhood of Perth, while in the York
district it is very common. In New South Wales I found it especially
abundant on the Upper Hunter, and all other parts towards the interior,
as far as I had an opportunity of exploring. Its favourite resorts
during the day are the open, arid and thinly-timbered forests; and in
the evening the banks and sides of rivers, where numbers may frequently
be seen in company. It almost invariably selects a dead or leafless
branch whereon to perch, and from which it darts forth to capture the
passing insect, much after the manner of many other of the Fissirostral
birds, particularly the Kingfishers, to which it also assimilates in the
upright position it assumes while perched. Its flight somewhat resembles
that of the _Artami_, and although it is capable of being sustained for
some time, the bird more frequently performs short excursions, and
returns to the branch it had left.
I have had frequent opportunities of observing both the eggs and young,
which are deposited and reared in holes, made in the sandy banks of
rivers or any similar situation in the forest favourable for the
purpose. The entrance is about the size of a mouse-hole, and is
continued for a yard in depth, at the end of which is an excavation of
sufficient size for the reception of the parent, and the deposition on
the bare sand of four or five beautiful white eggs, which are ten lines
long by eight or nine lines broad.
The stomach is tolerably muscular, and the food consists of various
insects, principally coleoptera and neuroptera.